'He's an icon': Mass. residents react to Michael Jackson’s death

Despite the scandals, odd behavior and bizarre facial transformations, Michael Jackson remains first and foremost the King of Pop in the minds of many.

Despite the scandals, odd behavior and bizarre facial transformations, Michael Jackson remains first and foremost the King of Pop in the minds of many.

Jackson died at a Los Angeles hospital Thursday from what doctors believed was cardiac arrest. He was 50.

The pop singer’s sudden death shocked fans around the world. And in bars and restaurants in Quincy and Hull, patrons fondly recalled the moonwalks, crotch-grabbing and, of course, the lone sequin glove that Jackson made famous.

TIMELINE

Michael Jackson, the former child star who became the biggest pop singer in the world before his career spiraled into a series of scandals, died Thursday in a Los Angeles Hospital.

1968: The Jackson 5, with 10-year-old Michael as lead singer, signs with Motown Records.
1970: They become first group to have their first four singles hit No. 1.
1972: First solo album, “Got to be There,” is released; “Ben” becomes his first No. 1 hit.
1979: Releases breakthrough solo album “Off the Wall.”
1983: Releases “Thriller” — which becomes the best-selling album in history.
1985: Co-writes “We are the World” with Lionel Richie.
1994: Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley marry; they divorce 19 months later.
1995: Releases “HIStory” album which sells more than 2.4 million copies.
1997: Jackson’s new wife, nurse Debbie Rowe, gives birth to his first child, a son named Prince Michael Jackson Jr.
1998: Second child is born to Jackson and Rowe — a daughter named Paris Michael Katherine Jackson; he and Rowe divorce the following year.
2001: “Invincible” album debuts at No. 1, fades quickly; sells about 2 million copies.
2003: He is booked on suspicion of child molestation.
2005: Found not guilty in child-molestation trial.
2008: Releases 25th anniversary edition of “Thriller”

Julien Pham of Quincy, a self-described “child of the ’80s,” said Jackson’s 1982 album “Thriller” was one of the first cassette tapes he bought.

“No matter what kinds of things he did, people will always consider him a musical legend,” Pham said.

Steve Harris of Quincy called him an “icon” who was “ahead of his time.”

Diane Hersey of Randolph, dining at The Fours Restaurant in Quincy, said she grew up listening to the Jackson 5.

“You still followed him, even after he went crazy,” she said.

But for some, Jackson’s chart-topping career will forever be overshadowed by his numerous plastic surgeries and accusations of child molestation, which earned him the tabloid nickname “Wacko Jacko.”

For that reason, news of Jackson’s death didn’t much faze Oscar Mendoza of Quincy.